Just Post

I’ll post here what I’ve posted elsewhere with addition comments sprinkled in.

This is what bothers me the most about folks, usually from an EU country, telling Americans we should just oust our shithead president through national strikes or violence and complain that we aren’t doing anything. The US is huge, what works in smaller European countries is vastly more difficult and expensive to organize and execute in the US. Those tactics do work here, but mostly at the local and state level which is akin to how they work in most EU countries when you adjust for population and size. At this level there is just not much an individual or relatively small group can do. Even if my entire city and the surrounding area rose up together (which it wouldn’t since it’s politically mixed) it would have little to no impact. A million or two people just isn’t that much in a nation as large and diverse as the US. The entirety of California or Texas couldn’t appreciably move the needle in all reality and they are massive, wealthy states.

The US General Strike movement estimates that we would need just 3.5% of the US adult population to strike to see any results, that is over 10.5 million people, and they have less than half a million signed up. To put that in perspective, that’s more than the entire population of Greece, Austria, or Sweden needed to make an impact, and even well resourced and organized they are barely moving the needle due mostly to the sheer size of the country. None of those countries can get their entire population to agree on something though, so it’s not really surprising the US hasn’t been able to get that many people to agree either.

In addition, the risks are enormous to everyday people when there isn’t an organization to back their movement. I still need to eat, put a roof over mine and my families head, and generally exist in this world. I applaud those that have the means, drive, or mindset to just take direct action but the vast majority do not. Going out half cocked, guns blazing though also doesn’t accomplish anything and just gives more media ammo to the current regime to oppress rights further. Until we can find our MLK to lead a movement against this oppression though, it’s unlikely that resistance will accomplish much visibly.

I think it would be a fantastic idea for Europeans, and the rest of the world, to start actually considering what a violent, imperialist US means to their normal day-to-day and how they can best prepare to defend against it. I, and all those I choose to surround myself with, hate what our government is doing. We voted against it, give money and time to causes against it and to try to reduce harm where we can and help those impacted by it. Many of us would leave if we had the means to, but the reality is that leaving has its own risks, is surprisingly difficult and expensive, doesn’t guarantee where we end up will ultimately be better, and removes our ability to do anything here. Like most of life, reality is complex and messy, I just wish everyone could keep that in mind when condemning all Americans for the actions our government is taking.

That all said, Americans are doing something, not enough, and not quickly, but protests are nearly constant in various parts of the country. Congress is rebuking nearly all of the big budget cuts Trump wanted, and more right leaning lawmakers are starting to stand up against the regime. Again, it’s not enough, but it isn’t silence like is often asserted here and elsewhere.

In short, I am not my country, and while I fully accept that the world hates the US right now (and they should), personally hating every individual American and blaming us as specifically responsible is ignorant and inflammatory. It doesn’t help and just serves to depress and discourage action by those of us who do not support the actions of our government and are trying to help in the ways that we can.